Defending the FaithThe Catholic Church waged a century-long war against the Irish left.

Ireland's foremost socialist knew that the British Empire and Irish capitalists weren't the only challenge he and his comrades faced. "In dealing with Ireland," James Connolly wrote in 1910, "no one can afford to ignore the question of the attitude to the clergy." Connolly's subject of discussion was a 1830s Owenite cooperative that enjoyed brief success, in large part because nearby clergymen didn't oppose it.